The revision of forest planning, which will be briefly sketched here, requires additional information and therefore new survey techniques. Regional forest inventories can contribute to the information needs of forest evolution planning.
The national forest inventory is not adequate for small areas; however, it can provide the data and the tools required for designing regional inventories using higher sampling densities. Regional inventories lie between inventories at the enterprise and the national levels. This paper outlines the use of aerial photographs, higher sampling densities and geostatistical techniques as well as the possibilities of cost savings. It also presents the potential contributions of the national inventory resources for the regional inventories: data bases, backup facilities, training of field crews, and statistical analysis.
Using the national forest inventory methodology, while increasing its sampling density, is one out of many possibilities to provide the required information. It is worth mentioning that the control method of Schmid-Haas (widespread in Switzerland) can also be used in the context of regional inventories.